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Licensed Home Child Care – Become a Provider

Partner with the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka in offering licensed quality child care services from the comfort of your own home.


What is Licensed Home Child Care?

Licensed Home Child Care is provided in private homes by self-employed home child care Providers. These Providers have been screened and contracted by the YMCA, an agency that has been licensed for home child care by the Ministry of Education.

Licensed homes are monitored by the Ministry of Education and the YMCA to ensure standards and licensed requirements are met.

Benefits of Being a Licensed Home Child Care Provider:

  • Self-employed
  • Earn an income while working from home
  • Set your own hours and schedule around your own family schedule
  • You can provide language and/or cultural familiarity within your own community
  • Compensation deposited directly in your bank account bi-weekly

Why Partner with YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka?

  • You will receive ongoing support from a dedicated YMCA Home Consultant
  • You will be supported through licensing, set up and programming
  • We are responsible for payment collection from your families
  • Providers receive, dollar for dollar, what families pay for care each day – no fee for service reductions applied
  • We provide administrative support; Less paperwork for you!
  • You’ll receive comprehensive and ongoing training
  • Professional development and networking opportunities
  • Eligibility for government grants and placement of subsidized children
  • Participating in the Canada-Wide Early Learning Child Care Agreement
  • Participation in the YMCA’s support and commitment to ensuring families have access to affordable, high-quality, licensed child care
  • To provide parents with security and assurance that their child is placed in quality programming
  • Use of suitable equipment; high chairs, strollers, playpens (if available)

Child Interest form for Licensed Home Child Care Spaces* – CLICK HERE

*Please Note: The YMCA is currently recruiting Providers and does not have any current Providers. Completing this form is a record of Interest and is NOT a registration or request for care. Once Providers have been contracted, the YMCA will follow up with interested families.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to be operating a home child care currently to be considered?

No, you do not need to be currently providing home child care to be considered. However, being an existing home provider may speed up your process of becoming a contracted home provider with the YMCA. We are looking for individuals who are interested in providing child care within their homes under our licensed agency.

Is home child care the right career and business for me?

If you love to work with children, you have experience with children 0-12 years of age (family, employment, volunteering), and you are 18 years of age or older, you are a good candidate.

YMCA home child care providers are inspired to care for children by offering nurturing, personalized quality child care in their home. If you enjoy supporting children learning through exploration, play and inquiry and are able to provide a home environment for children to grow and develop, you are a candidate we want to connect with.

Providers of YMCA Licensed Home Child Care welcome professional support, guidance and resources to help start.

How long will the process take for me to become a Licensed Home Child Care Provider contracted by the YMCA?

The process to become a Licensed Home Child Care Provider contracted by the YMCA takes approximately four-eight weeks. This will depend on the time it takes for the home provider applicant to:

  • Complete agency screening–interview for suitability, personal reference checks, participate in provider orientation, home visits for safety, fire inspection and verified Vulnerable Sector Check for themselves and anyone else in the household who is 18 or older.
  • Submit up-to-date immunization records and health assessments for themselves and anyone else in the home.
  • Obtain liability insurance coverage-Commercial General Liability Insurance, Standard, Automobile Insurance (if using your car for your business) and Abuse Liability Insurance.
  • Provide required certifications-Standard First Aid including Infant/Child CPR Level C.
  • Purchase of any equipment required.

A YMCA Home Consultant supports each provider throughout the application process.

What are the requirements of a home provider to operate a child care?

Show that your home is a safe and healthy place for children.

A contracted Licensed Home Child Care Provider is required to have:

  • A police vulnerable sector check for everyone in the home 18 and older
  • Child care liability insurance
  • Car liability insurance and a valid driver’s license if you are using your vehicle for child care purposes.
  • Smoke detectors on each floor of your home. And Home Child Care Providers are also required to have a fire extinguisher, a First Aid Kit, and a carbon monoxide detector near the sleeping area
  • Updated immunizations as recommended by the local medical officer of health for everyone in the home, and all children in care. Current rabies inoculations for all dogs and cats (if applicable)
  • Appropriate areas for indoor and outdoor play, sleeping, eating, toileting, and diapering
  • A child friendly environment that includes a clean and safety proofed home, toys, materials and equipment for children 0-13 years of age
  • Nutritious snacks and meals in keeping with Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating (hc-sc.gc.ca).
  • Adherence to the Smoke-Free Ontario Act (effective May 31, 2006, this act prohibits smoking in “a place where private home day care is provided within the meaning of the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014, whether or not children are present.”) (health.gov.on.ca).
  • A working telephone on the premise
  • Programming for children planned and implemented in accordance with “How Does Learning Happen: Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years” (http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/pedagogy.html)
  • A YMCA Home Consultant supports each provider throughout the application process.

Who are home consultants or home visitors, and what do they do?

Home Consultants and are experienced YMCA Leaders in our Child and Family Development Department, who are trained in early childhood education and have extensive knowledge of child development and the rules and regulations of licensed child care.

A Home Consultant screens, approves and monitors licensed home child care providers and assists with the application process. They check all homes to make sure that they are safe for children before children are enrolled.

They also check in monthly to make sure home providers are following the provincial requirements and the agency’s policies and procedures and offer support.

As a Licensed Home Child Care Provider with the YMCA, you are not alone. Home Consultants operate in partnership with you, offering support and professional development opportunities.

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